Hello from Iowa

[Jski]

Hey everyone, Im new here.

My buddy has a Leopard Gecko, and over the weekend we went out to Petsmart because he needed some crickets and new bedding. While I was there I seen a gecko that looked sweet. Come to find out, it was a Leopard Gecko. I fell in love with her and bought her.

I didn't have a whole lot of cash to play with, so I got a pretty basic setup. 2 places to hide (a cave, and a piece of wood) an old dried out piece of cactus that my buddy found in the desert in Arizona, and a water dish. Plus I have a thermometer, and lights.

But today something interesting happend. On Sunday we noticed that she was digging around. My buddy thought that was odd, he has never seen his gecko do that. So we just shrugged it off as her exploring her new environment.

So today, I come home for my lunch break and I see her out of her hide, just relaxing under the light. So I decided to pick her up, and pet her a bit. Then I sat her back down and started to mix the sand up (its not really sand, its crushed english walnut shells but it looks just like sand) When I picked up her cave hide to see if there was any dead crickets or anyhthing I was moving the sand a bit, and i felt my spoon hit something... I thought it was odd, so I carefuly removed some more sand and to my surprise I found 2 eggs.

I think it's really cool. I have never had a lizard or anything before, so I am a complete beginner, but I look forward to learning more and watching my gecko (Sierra) play and live in her new home.

And to end this introduction post, does anyone have any tips or ideas on what to do with the eggs?

This looks like a great community, I look forward to talking with you guys.

- Jski

 

[Scott&Nikki]

Wow, a lot to cover here. First of all, you need to get her off of the walnut shells ASAP. I really mean ASAP. Any loose substrate isn't necessarily a good thing, but walnut shells are some of the wost. I recommend you putting her on paper towels right now. As far as the eggs, I kinda hate to say it, but it seems you are going to have to dispose of them, even if they are fertile. They require incubators and a lot of close care that I am sure you are not ready for just yet. My guess is by now they may be bad anyway not being in the right conditions. It seems from your description that you need to do a lot with the enclosure. You can ask specific questions in the General Care and Husbandry forum, or try searching also.

EDIT: Just adding onto some things I skipped over the first time I read. I don't think the cactus is a good idea. First, if it is sharp at all that is not good for your leo, and second, a plant from Arizona is not in a leo's natural habitat, so you do not know if it is poisonous or anything like that. You should have an Under Tank Heater (UTH) instead of lights. The UTH should be on one end of the tank to make a hot spot that is around 90-92 degrees. You need to be measuring the GROUND temp, not the AIR temp to get an accurate reading, so you will need either a thermometer with a probe, or a temp gun.

 

[Sunrise Reptile]

WOW, Jski! Your leo is breaking you in quick, huh? Eggs so soon! First off, Welcome to GeckoForums.net!

The eggs will need to be incubated if at all possible. Check here (click) for some great incubation info. Enjoy your time here!

 

[Golden Gate Geckos]

Welcome to GeckoForums.net! You are definitely in the right place for information on caring for your new gecko! I agree, get your gecko off any substrate that can be ingested and make sure she has plenty of calcium. Laying eggs can be very demanding on a female's body.

 

[Jski]

I have done some reading on using sand. I would be willing to switch to a hard substrate but I think the papertowels dont look very good at all. Also why do you say that I shouldn't use a light? If I didn't have a light she wouldnt get very good light in her tank at all. If a Leopard Gecko comes from a arid place like pakistan I'm sure that the sun would be pretty bright and hot.

 

[Scott&Nikki]

I have done some reading on using sand. I would be willing to switch to a hard substrate but I think the papertowels dont look very good at all. Also why do you say that I shouldn't use a light? If I didn't have a light she wouldnt get very good light in her tank at all. If a Leopard Gecko comes from a arid place like pakistan I'm sure that the sun would be pretty bright and hot.

If you don't like paper towel, I would suggest slate tile. That is what I use and I love it. Plus I feel it is the most natural substrate. Leopard geckos are nocturnal. They do not need much light. Just enough to have a day/night cycle. You wouldn't see one out under the sun in the wild unless it needed to, such as escape from a predator or something along those lines. Bright lights stress them out and their eyes are not made to handle it. That is why (assuming you have proper husbandry) you will probbaly not see your leo very much during the day. Also, you need a UTH rather than heat from a light because belly heat is how they digest their food. Not only might your leo have a problem with digesting in poor heating, but she may not eat at all, which could be very unfortunate for a leo having just laid eggs and possibly having more on the way.

 

[Jski]

Ok, this weekend I will go out and get some slate, and an UTH. Can I still use a light though? My room is rather dark, and I think the the tank looks a lot cooler all lit up. She did just eat a full cricket about 20 minutes ago, and now she is relaxing in her hide.

 

[Scott&Nikki]

Ok, this weekend I will go out and get some slate, and an UTH. Can I still use a light though? My room is rather dark, and I think the the tank looks a lot cooler all lit up. She did just eat a full cricket about 20 minutes ago, and now she is relaxing in her hide.

I know it looks better lit up, but I think the health of your pet is more important. You can try using a very low watt bulb and raise it a little so it is not so stressful, or you can use a red, blue, or black bulb. Leos cannot detect these colors very well, so those are fine. Especially being gravid, she should be eating a lot more than 1 cricket. Crickets should be gutloaded (fed with veggies or premade gutload) at least 24 hour prior to feeding them to your leo to make sure she is getting vitamins and all that good stuff. You need to make sure also, as Marcia said, she is getting plenty of calcium. So you need to dust the crickets with calcium and have a dish in the tank of calcium available for her to lick whenever she wants it. You can just put some in a milk cap or something like that.

If you have any other questions, please feel free to post them in the specific forums and we will be more than happy to give you input to help you out. Or you can use the search function if you need some quick answers. Thanks!

 

[MichaelJ]

Wow, some people wait years before having eggs. You got them in two days. I wonder who got to her at the PetSmart??

Well I think Scott and Nikki have summed it up very well. You'll need to get them into an incubator ASAP and it's most likely already too late. And DEFINITELY get them off the loose substrate.

Welcome to the forums. You'll find everything you need here..

 

[GECKOFREAK]

Welcome!